Missing at the River
by blainersglee
Summary: Kurt Hummel isn't happy when his dad takes him to spend sixteen days at the campground inside of the camper that his stepbrother was last seen at. He meets a shy boy that soon helps him unravel the mystery of his stepbrother's disappearance after an odd text comes through. {KLAINE} {FINCHEL}


**_i do not own glee in any shape, size, form, or way._**

 ** _this story will contain homophobia and some other categories that may be triggering to some._**

Kurt Hummel's arms wrapped around himself as he was engulfed in the oversized UNC sweatshirt that was something he usually would die before being seen in, but given the circumstances of the past year, he didn't care at this point. Plus, no one knew him here.

The rain beat down on the camper of the Hudson-Hummel family, and Kurt thought that it couldn't have gotten anymore gloomier, but it did.

His dad, Burt Hummel, was grilling hamburgers on the porch where the rain wouldn't hit him, but Kurt didn't feel hungry at all. He hadn't the entire three days he had been here. He despised this place.

When his stepbrother, Finn Hudson, had gone missing last year at this exact campground, Kurt swore he would never step foot in it knowing that this camper was the last place Finn had ever been seen.

But, his dad had come up with the oh-so-brilliant idea to come spend sixteen days out here just in Finn's honor. Everyone thought it was a great idea. Everyone except Kurt.

Kurt was surprised last year when Burt and Carole had agreed to letting Finn and his friends, Sam, Artie, and Puck, stay in the camper for a week during the summer to celebrate moving onto senior year, well only Puck and Finn as Sam and Artie were only sophomores at the time.

They were an unlikely group of friends with Sam being a blonde with a brain the size of a pea, Puck being a delinquent with a mohawk, Finn being the quarterback of the football team, and Artie being disabled and in a wheelchair, but they made their friendship work.

Puck and Finn were the two closest. Sure, they were friends with Sam and Artie, but they were way closer to each other than the other two.

Everything was fine up until the day before they were supposed to leave. They had all gotten up to go fishing at five that morning except for Artie who had a major migraine. He woke up around twelve and they still weren't back, so he waited around until four.

That's when he had started to get worried. Artie called the cops that night and they investigated it, only finding Puck's expensive pack of fishing line he had bugged his girlfriend, Quinn, to buy him for Christmas last year.

Kurt didn't speak for two months after.

He didn't sing, participate in Glee, hardly ate, and didn't even feel like taking a shower. It was insanely rough on him. His best friend, Rachel, was taking it easier than him and she had been Finn's girlfriend.

Rachel had long, brown hair and a Jewish nose that often got made fun of. Her life was singing and she was determined to be the next Barbra Steisand and make it on Broadway. It almost didn't work out for her when she flubbed her NYADA audition up, but stalked Carmen down to have a redo.

Kurt and Rachel's friendship almost didn't work out. They had similar goals and dreams, but had eventually become friends along their way to beating each other. Not that either of them were complaining, though, because their unlikely friendship was something that both of them treasured.

Kurt, himself, was actually going to audition for NYADA, but chose not to in the end. He had no idea where his college life was going to go, but he would have to think of something before the summer was over with whether it was NYU or Lima Community.

He peered out of the window again to find the rain was slacking down. It was still raining, but light was starting to shine through.

Burt rattled on the door, making Kurt jump slightly. Carole jumped up to get it and Burt walked in with a plate of burgers dropping in grease.

"Who's hungry?" Burt said happily, placing the plate down on the counter.

As Burt and Carole assembled their hamburgers, Burt commented on Kurt not getting anything. "You not hungry, Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head, keeping his eyes trained on the river. He was almost six hours away from home. He usually imagines that if he were six hours, it would be somewhere fun. Not on the New River at a campground in Rich Creek, Virginia.

Burt sighed. "You have to eat something. You haven't eaten all day."

"I'm not hungry," Kurt mumbled, snuggling farther into his sweatshirt.

"You should go outside then and get some fresh air," Burt commented, "if you walk a little way down, I reckon there's the cottage where the owner lives along with a laundromat, a small store, and a park of some sorts. Or you could always walk down to the docks."

"No. I am not going to the docks."

"Kurt, you're miserable. Get outside and do something before I make you," Burt said with a tone that made Kurt roll his eyes, get up, and slip on his shoes.

Before he opened the door, he looked back at Burt. "I'm doing this for Finn, not for you and definitely not because I want to."

Win that, he slammed the door and stalked off the porch.

The rain had stopped and the grass was wet and the air was still humid, which made Kurt's hair always go crazy. He looked over at his bike and contemplated on whether to ride it or walk it. In the end, he decided on walking since he wouldn't be going far.

He stepped out onto the concrete and started to walk. There were large bars set up around the campground near the entrances. You had to have a clicker to get inside and raise the bar. It was for safety reasons and Kurt mentally kicked himself when he realized he didn't bring the clicker.

He knocked a leg over the bar and started around the entrance, the cottage in sight.

The campground was pretty large. Campers were lined up beside of each other on both sections of the campground. Some people had their decorated and came a lot, but most people's were just plain considering they only came a few times a year.

Kurt had finally reached the cottage and opted to just swing on the swings for a little bit until he saw another boy by himself swinging.

The boy looked to be around his age. He had dark hair that was gelled back. He wore green pants that looked to be a little too tight and a white shirt with a matching bowtie that wasn't a shade off from his pants.

"Hello?" Kurt said cautiously, moving closer to the boy.

He looked up and Kurt felt his heart do something it had never done before.

Flutter.

"Hey," the boy said quietly, "sorry, I was just getting up."

He stood up to leave but Kurt grabbed him by the shoulder. Kurt was surprised when the boy flinched and jumped into the air, moving away from Kurt.

Kurt threw his hands up in a surrender position. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I was just gonna say it's fine, you don't have to get up. There's like, ten swings. Plus, I'm only going to be down here for like, ten minutes. Just long enough to keep my dad from yelling at me anymore."

The boy nodded, still looking pale, and sat back down tentatively on the swing.

Kurt chose the one beside of him, pretending not to notice the way he tried to scoot away in his swing.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked. He was actually starting to get worried.

Another nod.

"Okay then," Kurt dragged out.

No response.

"Where's your camper?"

The boy pointed at the cottage.

His parents must've owned the campground. Plus, he was dressed sharply and nice. That would explain why he looked so preppy.

Kurt looked over at him to find the guy already looking at him. "So your parents own this place? Do you live here year-round?"

"Yes, they own this place. I live in Westerville except for the summer." His response was so quiet Kurt almost didn't hear it.

"Ohio? I live in Lima! It's a small world!"

Kurt really was trying. He needed a friend here for the remaining thirteen days that were left, but this boy seemed antisocial. Either that or he just didn't like to talk.

"What's your name? I'm Kurt. Kurt Hummel." Kurt reach out his hand for the boy to shake it.

"Blaine Anderson," he said, ignoring Kurt's hand. "Your stepbrother went missing here last summer, didn't he?

Kurt's head snapped up. "Who told you that?"

Blaine shrugged. "No one told me. You're forgetting my parents own this place. I know of every crime to have happened here. Well, that was the only crime."

"Don't talk about my stepbrother," Kurt said darkly.

"Okay."

"Sorry, it's just-"

"Okay, I don't care."

They say there for thirty minutes in silence. The only sound was the occasional metal clink when they would slightly swing themselves.

A door shut and Kurt looked up to find a man coming down the steps of the cottage. "Is that your dad."

"Go," Blaine said quickly.

Kurt looked at him. "What?"

"I said go! Go in the laundromat and stay there until I'm gone. Now!"

Kurt didn't know what to do or why he was supposed to go in the laundromat but felt his feet picking him up and moving him inside of it.

Blaine breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw Kurt make a run for the laundromat. There was no way he could let his dad see Kurt. It would ruin any possible friendship they had gained in that thirty minutes they had spent together.

Kurt was really pretty.

Pretty was often used as an odd word to describe a boy, but Blaine couldn't think of anything else. He came off as a bit guarded, but Blaine couldn't say much for himself as he could hardly form words anymore, much less around an attractive boy.

If Blaine had been straight, everything would be okay. He would've gotten the love that Cooper had gotten when he was younger.

But, instead of reading sports magazines, Blaine wanted the latest edition of Vogue. He didn't want dull colors that made him blend in, he wanted clothes that made him stand out.

His style was different than Kurt's. Kurt wore a UNC sweatshirt and jeans while Blaine was decked out as usual. Somehow, he just knew that Kurt liked fashion. He could sense it.

"Who was that boy?" Dan Anderson asked, narrowing his eyes at his son.

Blaine shrugged. "Just a dude swinging."

"No boy swings on a swing set at your age except you, Blaine. He has a gay face like yours. Now, answer the question; who was the boy?"

His heart began to race. He couldn't lie now. There was no way.

"Kurt Hummel. He was just asking if any news had been posted on his missing stepbrother, and then he just sat down to swing for a bit. It was nothing. We didn't even talk," Blaine said as smoothly as possible.

Dan looked at him expectantly. "I can't have you catching feelings for a boy in the summer. Don't hang around him again, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

It took everything in Blaine not to give him a piece of his mind, but he restrained and followed his dad back up to the cottage, ignoring him as he talked about something that the "incredible" Cooper did and how Blaine should spend a summer with him soon so he'll become more normal.

Blaine entered the cottage and tried to go to his room before Dan grabbed him, halting him to a stop.

"Pam, Blaine was out there with that Hummel kid. Tell him he can't hang around him. He never listens to me," Dan said, disappointment running through his voice.

Pam Anderson came out of the kitchen with a glass of orange Fanta soda in her hand. She sat the glass on the table and walked towards Blaine. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Her eyes darted to Dan. "Alone?"

Dan rolled his eyes and left the room, mumbling about how he should be allowed to listen when his son is getting ready to be chewed out.

Blaine sat next to his mother on the couch and turned towards her.

She lowered her voice. "You can't do anything this summer, Blaine. You're only seventeen. You have one more year until you're out on your own and can do whatever you want. You know how your father is and I suggest you to not bring a boy home-"

"If you're so fine with me being gay and all, why can't you just come out and say it? You tell me that it's going to be fine when I'm eighteen and all, but you don't even show it. Can't you just be happy for me?" Blaine interrupted.

When he had come out, his mom was fine with it, but said she could never show it because of Dan.

Blaine's dad absolutely was not okay with it and made it obvious when he treated Blaine like dirt every single day since then.

"You know I can't. I'd be more than happy if you fell in love with another boy. But, you just can't right now and I can't show that I'm okay with that."

Blaine didn't answer and only got up, stalked to his room, and ignored his mother's calls for him to come back. He was way more interested in ranting to his best friend, Jeff Sterling, than hear his mom try to turn his life into a perfect Hallmark movie.

It took three rings for Jeff to answer.

They ended up chatting all night. Blaine often called Jeff when something would happen, which was usually most of the time, and rant to him for half of the night.

Jeff was gay, too. He was in a relationship with their other friend, Nick Duval, and they had been going strong for three years now. Both of their parents accepted the relationship and loved both boys no matter what.

If only Blaine could've been accepted like that.

Kurt had come home when he heard the door shut at the cottage. He had no idea what had been going on, but the door had slammed loudly and he took that as a cue to get up and leave before he started smelling of Bleach or Tide detergent.

The sun was starting to set and Kurt thought if he didn't get back to the camper, Burt and Carole would start to think he had went missing just as Finn had.

Finn.

He hadn't thought about him in about an hour which was a record in Kurt's books.

Losing Finn had definitely been the hardest thing that had ever happened to him in a long time. And, that was saying a lot due to the constant bullying he suffered for being the only out kid at McKinley High School and losing his mom many years ago.

He was always shunned to the back in Glee to just sway around and be background noise. While he loved Rachel, he sometimes hated the way she always got the solos.

Pulling out his phone, he had a missed call from Tina, a text from Rachel, and one from-

No.

It couldn't be.

Kurt's phone dropped onto the ground and he didn't care if it had shattered.

He started to shake and breathe heavily. He glanced around him and saw that no one was there, only the droplets of water falling from the trees overhead.

Kurt grabbed his phone and took a run for it, hastily jumping over the bar and running faster than he ever had in his life.

When he reached the camper, he ran up the steps and inside, slamming the door behind him.

"Woah, slow it down, kid. What's gotten you in such a rush?" Burt said, easing up from the recliner.

"Just wanted to get back before it got too dark," Kurt panted, throwing off his shoes and running into the small bedroom he had claimed as his own.

He sat down on the edge analyzing the text that had been sent to him.

There was no possible way that it could even be from him. There was just no way.

Chills ran down his spine and his shaking hands opened a new message to Rachel that he ended up just deleting. He didn't know if he should tell anyone yet or not.

Kurt clicked on the contact and checked the number and picture. It was the same as it had always been. There was nothing out of the ordinary and looked as though he was really there sending a text.

Ignoring the feeling that he should say something back, he quickly took a screenshot of the message and locked his phone, throwing it onto the dresser beside of him.

There was something up. Kurt didn't know what or who or how, but someone knew he was here or that text wouldn't have been sent.

After changing into a pair of flannel pants to sleep in, Kurt turned off the lights and pulled the blankets over him. It was only eight thirty but Kurt felt exhausted after what had just happened.

He closed his eyes but couldn't seem to sleep. There would be no sleeping now knowing that text was still on his phone.

 _Sam Evans:_

 _Hey buddy! Glad to see you're here at New River! Catch up?_

 ** _not much klaine action, im sorry. i just wanted to kick off with something simple. tune in next time!_**


End file.
